A short letter from Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman calling for higher salaries for teachers is creating a long list of concerns among school officials, while teachers are cheering both its content and timing
NATE JENKINS / The Associated Press | Posted: Sunday, July 12, 2009 12:00 am
LINCOLN, Neb. - A short letter from Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman calling for higher salaries for teachers is creating a long list of concerns among school officials, while teachers are cheering both its content and timing.
Groups representing school board members and school administrators are scheduled to meet with Heineman on Tuesday in the Governor's Mansion to discuss the letter and try to persuade him to soften what appears to be a hard stance on teacher pay.
The president of the Nebraska Association of School Boards said the letter has driven a wedge between teachers and school boards just as many are in the midst of contract negotiations.
"I would say our districts were surprised he took this position," said John Wurdeman, president of the Nebraska Association of School Boards. "The frustrating thing for a lot of us is the idea we may have to use some of this stimulus money - which is a one-time program - to fund salaries, and if the state doesn't replace the money, a lot of school boards won't have any option but to do a reduction in work force" once the money runs out.
In the letter written last month to the Nebraska State Education Association, the statewide teachers' union, Heineman said he has "grown increasingly concerned that the substantial increases in state aid have not been reflected in teacher pay."
"Superintendent salaries seem to be increasing at a significant rate while teacher salaries are not. That needs to change," he added.
He called on union leaders to encourage school districts to make sure much of the $234 million in additional funding he and lawmakers approved for elementary and secondary schools - all of it from the federal-stimulus package - is spent in the classroom, including on teacher salaries. The stimulus dollars replaced state tax dollars normally used to increase state aid to public schools.
Because stimulus dollars were available, lawmakers and Heineman were able to more than double the original, planned increase in school aid.
Privately, some school officials and lawmakers, including those in Heineman's own Republican Party, say the letter calling for more stimulus dollars to be used to boost teacher pay is mostly a ploy to muster support among teachers before the 2010 gubernatorial election. The NSEA has 28,000 members.
Its president, Jess Wolf, acknowledged the political advantage of courting teachers with higher pay but said Heineman has been speaking to his group about the issue for two years. Different sources rank average teacher pay in Nebraska between 42nd and 45th lowest in the country compared to other states.
The teacher's union is trying to use Heineman's letter its advantage during the current round of negotiations between teachers and school boards statewide and believes it may be working. On its Web site, the NSEA touts contract negotiations that have ended with teachers getting higher salaries.
Wolf said a school board put a pay offer on the table for teachers to consider during one recent negotiation. The teachers responded by handing school officials the letter from Heineman, "and when they came back 15 minutes later they had a substantially higher offer," Wolf said.